The continuing reluctance of high street banks to increase business lending has forced many entrepreneurs to become far more innovative in their approach to financing.

Charles Armstrong, chief executive of Trampoline Systems, a social analytics company, said the collapse in conventional finance models had served as a catalyst for people to try alternative strategies. “Not just informal friends and family routes, but new formal approaches too,” he said. Crowdfunding – raising small stakes from a large number of investors – was becoming more mainstream, he noted.